In a setback for India, Pakistan and Russian Military inch closer further
Shares
RAWALPINDI: A contingent of Pakistan Armed Forces participated in opening ceremony of multinational military exercise Kavkaz 2020 at Astrakhan, Russia on Saturday.
The Kavkaz 2020 would take place in the Astrakhan region, and the Black and Caspian seas from September 21 to 26.
Exercise Kavkaz (21-26 Sep) aims at assessing ability of troops to react to various challenges & learn from each other’s experiences, said ISPR in a tweet.
Besides the hosts, troops from China, Belarus, Iran, Pakistan, Armenia and Myanmar is taking part in the drills while India has withdrawn over its latest clashes with China at Himalayan border.
Director General ISPR Major General Babar Iftikhar said, Kavkaz 2020 exercise is aimed at assessing ability of troops to react to various challenges and learn from each other’s experiences. The week-long exercise will commence from Monday, informed the authorities.
“Overall about 80,000 people are expected to be involved in the Kavkaz-2020 strategic command and staff exercise including combat support units, combat service support units and technical support units.
As well as air defense and naval units, and special troops (the Federal National Guard Troops Service and the Ministry for Emergency Situations),” the ministry has informed.
Up to 250 tanks, up to 450 mechanized infantry fighting vehicles and APCs and 200 artillery systems along with multiple-launch rocket systems will be used in the exercise.
The authorities have disclosed that the exercises will be held under the command of Chief of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov.
“Military units from Armenia, Belarus, China, Myanmar and Pakistan were invited to train joint actions within force groupings, up to 1,000 foreign military overall,” the ministry added.
The Defense Ministry’s Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper wrote that about 100 Chinese military have arrived in Russia’s Astrakhan region to participate in the Kavkaz-2020 command and staff exercise.
“Two Y-20 military transport aircraft of the Chinese Air Force with military of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army on board have arrived in the Astrakhan region,” it said, adding that the planes had airlifted about 100 military as well as military hardware.
In times of Corona virus, prior to leaving for Russia, the Chinese military were tested for corona virus. Russian medics are control the implementation of the SOP’s, this included the wearing of masks and compliance with epidemiological measures.
The Indian authorities also confirmed on Augsust 29, 2020 that in a big step in the backdrop of an ongoing conflict with China in eastern Ladakh, India conveyed to Russia that its troops would not be participating in the multinational military exercise Kavkaz-2020 where Chinese and Pakistani troops are also going to be there.
